Duration: | 8 Day(s) - 7 Night(s) |
Tour Category: | River Rafting |
This is the longest river trip offered in Nepal, traversing 270 kms through the beautiful Mahabharat Range on its meandering way from the put-in point at Dolalghat to the take-out point at Chatara, far down on the Gangetic Plain. It is quite an experience to begin a river trip just 3 hours out of Kathmandu, barely 60 kms from the Tibet border, and end the trip looking down the hot, dusty gun barrel of the North Indian plain just a week later.
The Sun Koshi starts off fairly relaxed with class II and small class III rapids to warm up during the first couple of days. Savvy guides will take this opportunity to get the teams to work with exquisite precision as on the third day, the rapids become more powerful and frequent with high water trips. One can be astonished at just how big a wave in the river can get. While the lower sections of large volume rivers are usually rather flat, the Sun Koshi reserves some of its biggest and best rapids for the last days. At the right flow, it is an incredible combination of powerful whitewater, stunning scenery, villages and truly quiet and introspective evenings along what many people consider to be one of the world's ten classic river journeys.
Departure point: Kathmandu
Duration: 08 Days
Rafting Distance: 235 Kms
Rafting start point: Dolalghat
Rafting finish point: Chattra
Outward travel time: 3 Hours
River grade: IV - V
Return travel time: 15-16 Hours
Best Time: Oct-Nov/ May- Mar
Day 01: KATHMANDU DRIVE TO DOLALGHAT 2 HOURS & RAFT 3-4 HRS.
At 7 am meet in Ktm. office - store baggage and finalize plans, a quick breakfast then we drive to Dolalghat i.e. put-in-point of Sun Koshi. The drive is spectacular with magnificent view of the Himalayan Ranges on a clear day. Upon arrival at sun kosi (Dolalghat), we unload gears, lunch will be served and a full safety briefing will be given by your expedition leader. The first and second days are easy paddling. The big rapid you will encounter on that day is of class 4+ rapid "Rotten Cave". We will choose our beach campsite, where dinner will be served amidst the splendor of the star filled sky.
Day 02: RAFTING IN SUNKOSHI RIVER
Have breakfast pack up the gear and start rolling down the river. Today you will encounter a big class 4+ rapid “Meat grinder". It is fairly straight run down the center avoiding holes left and right. A few meters below here the Tamba Kosi River joins the Sun Kosi on the left with a beach on the confluence. There is another beautiful Shiva temple overlooking the two rivers. We stay overnight in the camp here.
Day 03: RAFTING IN SUNKOSHI RIVER
Today a few kms below the confluence of the Likhu Khola is a short, class 3+ rapid. Pre-Anxiety soon followed by a long class 4 rapid High Anxiety with a large hole on the left halfway down and a series of holes at the bottom. Float a while and then camp.
Day 04: RAFTING IN SUNKOSHI RIVER
This day starts with several class 3+ rapids then a quick stop for buying food and maybe beer. Then prepare for a big and interesting one Harkapur 2 and 3 the hardest rapid on the river which should be carefully scouted. Camp
Day 05: RAFTING IN SUNKOSHI RIVER
Some km below Harkapur, Dudh Kosi River joins the Sun Kosi from the left. Below here the river widens into an arid area of gravel. You meet some small rapids and will teach you into another aptly named rapid 'Jaws'. Camp
Day 06: RAFTING IN SUNKOSHI RIVER
Today is a hard day as you will be encounter most of the grade 4+ rapids - you are straight into good exciting rapid "Rhino Rock" which is a grade 4+ followed by "Jungle Corridor" a kilometer of continuous white water. Waterfalls cascade on both sides of the river. One waterfall makes a great spot for a team shower. Camp
Day 07: RAFTING IN SUNKOSHI RIVER
Last few days are mainly wave trains if you are interested you can try kayaking where our experts will teach you the basic skills needed to maneuver the boats or learn the Eskimo roll. Camp
Day 08: DRIVE BACK TO KATHMANDU
The last stretch of river which brings you to the last class 4+ Big Dipper is a series of huge standing waves. A few kilometer later big Arun and Tamur Rivers joins together to form the Sapta Kosi. Then you float along on the powerful current, the hills dramatically give way to totally flat Terai and the northern plains of India. This is the end of a classic and memorable river journey. We will finish our trip around 2 pm pack the gear and then drive back to Kathmandu around 4 pm from Chattra. This takes around 13/14 hours.